Allison Hanes: Can we get off the path to extinction?

Montrealers love to take the kids to the Biodôme to see the penguins. Come spring we flock to the Ecomuseum to check if the black bear is awake from its hibernation. We snap pictures of butterflies fluttering free at the Insectarium.

Children love nature. Their eyes light up when they experience it up close. If only as adults we kept that sense of wonder.

Unfortunately our record for respecting other creatures is far from admirable, be it in the wild or in our own backyards. In fact, we often view them as pests to get rid of or obstacles in our way. This holds true for individuals, governments and industry, alike.

We spray pesticides on lawns that cripple bees, mow “weeds” that Monarchs feast on, try to construct roads over the dwindling territory of the Western chorus frog, build on the nesting grounds of the tiny bank swallow and expand Montreal’s port in the last redoubt of the copper redhorse fish. And that’s just in Quebec.

Multiply this careless attitude across the globe and it’s no wonder roughly a million plant, insect and animal species are at risk today. Scientists have warned that the sixth mass extinction event on Earth is already underway, provoked by human activity.

As much as we think we’re the superior beings on this planet, our greed and carelessness has profound implications for humanity’s survival. Biodiversity is not only the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, but an important buffer to the human activities that are contributing to climate change. Yet nature is disappearing at an alarming rate.

Trying to turn the tide on this erosion is the reason decision-makers from around the world are in Montreal for the COP15 summit. They will try to hammer out an international accord to preserve 30 per cent of the planet’s lands and oceans, which will in turn protect the species that inhabit them.

You’d think Canada, would be a model for conservation with our vast landscape and relatively small population. We may be better than some, but we could and should be doing so much more. A recent federal report catalogued more wild species — and more that are at risk. Of more than 50,000 types of plant, mammal, bird, insect, fish, fungi and lichen researchers collected data on for the Wild Species Report 2020, 2,000 face extinction. Over 100 of them only exist in Canada.

On the eve of COP15, the Quebec government finally announced that it would be revise its list of endangered species, adding some vulnerable plants and animals, while raising the alert status for others. New to the inventory are the rusty-patched bumble bee, the northern long-eared bat, the brown snake,  the chimney swift and several others. They join familiar names like the belugas of the St. Lawrence River and the woodland caribou of the Gaspésie.

At the opening ceremony of COP15, Premier François Legault also announced $650 million for a “Plan Nature” — which he touted as the biggest investment in protecting biodiversity in the history of Quebec.

These are an important steps — and long overdue — but it will be essential to hold the government to account for these commitments when the international spotlight is turned elsewhere.

There is an essential role for states and government to play to preserve nature, through carefully crafted policy and robust legislation. Better yet, the federal government announced $800 million this week for Indigenous-led conservation projects, covering one million square kilometres of sea and land.

There must be a greater understanding on the part of all humans about how nature works for our shared benefit, and about the incredible contribution of each life form to our collective well-being.

Scientists are only just beginning to understand how everything works together when it comes to processes like “trophic cascade.” When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park in 1995, for instance, their impact had a ripple effect on the entire landscape.

According to the environmental organization Earth Justice: “When wolves were brought back to the park, they not only killed elk, but also changed their prey’s behaviour patterns. The herbivores started to avoid areas like valleys and gorges where they could be easily hunted by predators. As a result, those areas began to regenerate, and species such as birds, beavers, mice and bears returned. Plant life once again thrived along the riverbanks and erosion decreased significantly. The stabilization of the riverbanks actually made the rivers and streams change course. With the reintroduction of just a small population of wolves, the landscape of the whole park transformed.”

Similarly there is new respect for the industrious beaver, which recent research found suggests should be leveraged as a low-tech, low-cost strategy for stream restoration and floodplain reconnection.

“It may seem trite to say that beavers are a key part of a national climate action plan, but the reality is that they are a force of 15 to 40 million highly skilled environmental engineers. We cannot afford to work against them any longer; we need to work with them.”

Sometimes it seems ridiculous that humans are considered the dominant species on this planet, when our habits are so destructive and counterproductive. Our hubris and greed are the main threat to the future of this planet.

The sooner humans realize our existence is tied up in an intricately woven and interdependent web of life, and the sooner we start acting like it, the better off we all will be. And by we I mean all creatures great and small.

1. Allison Hanes: How much can be accomplished at COP15, and how can we help?

2. Allison Hanes: Could COP15's spotlight save precious Technoparc wetlands?

3. COP15 FAQ: Why 20,000 delegates are coming to Montreal to talk nature